MUSC Youth Recreational Soccer
MUSC offers recreational soccer opportunities to players from U10 through U19. Recreational soccer does not involve significant cost or travel, and focuses on developing players in a fun environment. Coaches are usually volunteer parents, although MUSC’s Director of Coaching and Academy Coaches will oversee the development of the players, to ensure that they receive the best experience possible.
(NOTE: Our U4-U8 player opportunities are in our FUNdamentals! and Jr Academy programs)
Youth Rec Soccer FAQ's
- Should my child play up?
- My daughter is a pretty aggressive player. May she play on a boys team?
- What is the Recreational U6 Group?
- How are the schedules determined for U8-U16?
- Why are there games scheduled out of Monongalia County?
- How do I select a Soccer Buddy for my child?
- How are the teams selected?
- Why isn’t my child just assigned to the same team as last season?
- How many players will you register?
- Can I yell at the referees?
- But the referee blew the call – shouldn’t I make sure he never forgets it?
- Where should I park at the Cheat Lake fields?
- Alcohol and Tobacco Products/Driving Speed at LP
- Dog Policy
- Lightning Rules
We do not generally encourage the practice of playing up in Rec Soccer. Parents should only consider this if their child is physically and emotionally ready to play with an older age group. If the player is obviously not being challenged in their correct age group, other options to consider include an extra night of individual training, or a move to Academy Soccer. If you wish for your child to be considered to play up to an older age division in Rec Soccer, please send an email to Terry Staggs, Director of Youth Rec Soccer - terry.staggs@muscwv.org
2. My daughter is a pretty aggressive player. May she play on a boy’s team?
Female players are allowed to register for the Boys division of their age group, if they wish (again, we do not generally recommend this). However, boys may not register for a Girls division. If you want to roster your daughter on a Boys division team, please enter “Want to play on a boys team” in the special requests section of the online form. For more information, please contact Terry Staggs, Director of Youth Rec Soccer - terry.staggs@muscwv.org
3.
How are the schedules determined for U8-U18?
In the U8 through the U18 divisions, players will be assigned to teams, according to our team selection process (outlined below). Practice times are coordinated with your team’s coach, and are based on their availability. No player will be moved from a team due to conflicts with practice or game times, and no registration fees can be refunded. The only way to guarantee a specific practice day or time is to volunteer to coach a team. No home games will be scheduled before 12:45pm on Sundays, except for tournaments.
At U8, there are enough in-house teams for all games to be scheduled within MUSC - at our Laurel Point, Cheat Lake, the ITC, or the Westover fields.
Starting at U10, the teams become larger, and MUSC has fewer teams, as do our surrounding counties (Preston, Marion, Barbour, Taylor), so we all work together to provide games for each other.
U10 teams typically have only 1 game out of MUSC, and the travel time is generally 30'-1 hour.
U12 and U14 teams play more of their games at other locations in the area (e.g. Kingwood, Fairmont, Grafton, etc.). In particular, U14, U16 and U18 teams will probably play half of their games out of town, due to the limited number of teams in the local area. Due to field sizes, most U14 and U16 home games will be at the Laurel Point fields.
On the registration form, please note that a player may select a “Soccer Buddy”. You may only select ONE Soccer Buddy for your child – please do not enter more than one name (if you do, we will decide which name to include). If two children select each other, then every effort will be made to place those two children on the same team. However, we cannot absolutely guarantee that this will be done. Please note that EACH of the two players must select the other, or any choice made may be dropped.
For example, if David selects Evan as his soccer buddy, but Evan selects John, then these Soccer Buddy entries cannot be honored. However, if David selects Evan, and Evan selects David, then all efforts will be made to place David and Evan on the same team. This also applies to those who have siblings that want to play together. They must put each other down as their buddies. Please note that any two parents that wish to coach together must list each others children as Soccer Buddies on their respective forms. This is the ONLY way that two children can be intentionally placed on the same team. Finally, if the two children put down different preferred locations (e.g. one puts Laurel Point, the other puts Cheat Lake), they will not be placed together on the same team. Talk to the parents of the soccer buddy before you register! Make sure to use the proper name of your child’s soccer buddy!
MUSC has a well-defined team selection process for the U8-U18 age groups, which works as follows:
The Director of Rec Soccer and their Rec Soccer Committee meet and assign players to teams. The coaches’ children are automatically assigned to their parents’ teams (for obvious reasons), as are those children’s soccer buddies, if the forms have been filled in correctly. All of the remaining players are sorted accordingly (for example, if there are 5 teams in the division, the remaining players are sorted into 5 teams). There are some rules – for example, any travel players playing in Rec must be evenly distributed among the teams.
With this system, we are trying to make the teams as even as possible. Also, all children have an equal chance of being placed on any specific coach’s team, and coaches do not have to spend an entire day going thru the process themselves. Anyone who wishes to assist with the team selection process is welcomed to send an email to terry.staggs@muscwv.org. The MUSC Director of Recreational Soccer has the final say on all team selection matters.
MUSC forms new teams each season for several reasons:
- We have many new players each season, and some children only play spring or fall but not both.
- We are trying to make the teams evenly matched with each other within MUSC, so that the players have more fun in games and are challenged to improve their skills.
- Our coaches are volunteers, and many only coach spring or fall.
Our main limitation in accepting registrations is the number of volunteer coaches available. Our second limitation is field space. We will take as many players in each division as possible, based on the number of available coaches and field space. If we have more players in a division than we can handle, we will have to refund some registrations and not accept those players that registered last, unfortunately. The only way that you can guarantee a place for your child is to register early, and to consider volunteering to coach their team.
Please note that MUSC has a strict zero tolerance policy when it comes to abuse of players, coaches or officials. Any violation of this policy will result in removal from the fields and potential expulsion from MUSC. We are serious about this. If you register your child to play on our fields, we expect you to uphold and support this policy. We simply will not tolerate any abusive language or behavior toward our players, coaches, and especially the referees. The goal is to make this as fun as possible for the kids, and to develop their soccer skills, team work, fitness, and self-esteem. Winning games is a very low priority in recreational soccer.
We have a shortage of referees in Monongalia County. Almost all of our referees are youth who are just a few years older than the players. Many are new referees. While they are required to take a USSF Referee training course to be official referees, and have studied the rules and procedures of refereeing, they are human and will make a few mistakes. They are learning how to referee in a game situation, just as our players are learning to play in a game situation. Some of our referees will move on to work at competitive soccer games, including high school, college, and possibly even professional levels. We encourage anyone with a passion for the rules to consider becoming a ref! Please be advised - one of the lesser penalties of yelling at refs will result in your being assigned as a club linesman for 3 games before being allowed to return to your role as a fan!
Please note that parking is strictly limited to clearly marked parking spots in the Cheat Lake School parking lots. Any vehicle parked in an unmarked spot in the Cheat Lake School lots may be towed at the owner’s expense. The parking spots (especially in the lower lot) are laid out to ensure proper access to the fields by emergency vehicles, if necessary. Parking on the hill leading down to the lower fields is completely prohibited. Please do not park in the neighboring subdivisions. If at all possible, leave the lower parking area for coaches with equipment, parents with small children and/or grandparents. All of this is especially crucial during high occupancy times, because the lots are extremely crowded.
If the lower lot is full, park up the hill at the elementary school parking lot and walk down the hill.
Please also to remember to slow down on the road leading into the Laurel Point fields, especially during extremely dry times. The dust that kicks up when you attend Laurel Point is not good for our neighbors and we have had many complaints. If we all just slow down a little we can control this dust a lot better.
13. Dog Policy
Please note that MUSC does have a dog policy. We do not encourage anyone bringing a dog to the fields as there is limited shade and limited opportunity for the animal to enjoy themselves.
All dogs at the Field Complexes must be properly restrained at all times and are prohibited from running at large. At no time will pets be allowed on the playing fields. It is the responsibility of the owner to clean up animal excrement on the property as well as to ensure the actions/behavior of the animal does not cause harm to individuals or property. All animals must be licensed in accordance with county regulations, wear a vaccination tag and be on a leash no longer than six (6) feet in length and under the PHYSICAL control of a capable
person.
If an individual or individuals are harmed Animal Control will be notified and appropriate actions taken, i.e. 911 alerted if needed, to include Sheriff’s Dept. and EMS.
14. Lightning Rules
If you see lightning or hear thunder you must leave the fields and take shelter in a lightning safe structure. You may not return to the fields until 30 minutes after the last observance of lightning or sound of thunder. Please note that the pavilions at both Cheat Lake and Laurel Point ARE NOT lightning safe. Please take shelter in your vehicle.